Wow. Cool. After solid interest here, and nearly 10,000 views of our Custom Laptop Case Video on YouTube, I’ve received piles of emails, some comments, and a handful of questions such that a follow up post is looking like a good idea. So without further ado, here’s a few still frames pulled from the video, some FAQ’s answered, and a detailed shopping list.

Some still shots from the vid clip, or other more detailed images:

The Pelican 1490

The San Disk Card Reader snugged into the pocket

The Lacie Drives Under the MacBook Pro

The Compact Flash cards lined up in the foam

The notch we cut out of the foam to give access to MacBook Pro ports:

Some FAQ’s Answered:

Q: What do you mean when you say “daisy chain the drives together?”A: There are two bus-powered fire wire 400 ports on each drive. We just connect the two drives to each other using one fire wire port on each; and then we connect one of the drives using it’s second fire wire port to the MacBook Pro’s fire wire port and both show up on the Desktop. No modification necessary, just a couple of fire wire cables cleverly strung through/under/behind the foamy rubber laptop tray.

Q: Do the drives run the risk of overheating?A: Typically, our challenge when working in the out of doors on location isn’t keeping things cool, it is keeping things warm enough (hence the Little Hotties adhesive warmers for maximizing charge on batteries). For the record, we ARE aware of potential overheat issues, and we keep an eye on it, but have as of now (after about 8 months using this setup) not had ANY issues with this. Just yesterday while riding in a car downloading cards (for 2 hours straight) the fan in the MacBook Pro came on for the first time ever, but nothing approached notable heat levels. In that instance, and when we work in warm conditions, we’d just tweak the computer off the the side a little for air flow. I think the fact that there’s a fair bit of space around each drive, coupled with NOT an airtight seal and rubber to displace the heat keeps things in a relatively happy state. This answer is obviously in no way suggesting you should ignore temperature concerns, however we have not encountered any issues to date.

Q: Is there a case that accommodates the 17″ MacBook Pro?A: Apparently there is a version of the Pelican 1490 that works with the 17″ MacBook (Pro). Although I haven’t personally tested it, this link: http://www.macyummies.com/pe17pocabl.html seems to do the trick with the pluckable foam. It might compromise the CF card storage slots we use on the right side of the computer tray, and I have no idea how the drives will integrate under the computer in the foam, but give it a whirl…and make sure you can return the case if it’s a no go. If anyone picks one up, please post your results here so we can keep this updated, as I’m sure lots of people are in your shoes.

Q: A couple items on your list have sold out at the sources you mentioned, any thoughts on other sources?A: I didn’t expect so much interest in the case, so indeed some items have sold out at a couple of the vendors I suggested, however, with a little resourcefulness, you should have no problem tracking the stuff down with a simple Google search, and an email or two. Additionally, read the revised ‘source’ section below.

Q: Is the Pelican Case waterproof and does it lock?A: Pelican claims it is waterproof, although I haven’t held ours under water to find out. We have had it in some pretty nasty conditions and it performed perfectly. Yes, our case comes with locks, however I believe you can specify if you’d like them or not.

Q: I don’t use Mac, will this work for PC laptops?A: Yes, most likely. You’ll need to specify which kind of laptop tray you need when you order the case. Depending on what model PC you’re using, be sure you can access your PC’s ports on the right side of the computer with a simple notch in the foam, like we’ve done with our MacBook Pro.

Q: Why do you have two drives under the computer?A: We use one for original (working) files, and the other for backup in case one hard drive fails. I HIGHLY recommend always writing to two drives. We’ve seen drives fail – and to not be backed up could be disastrous. For more comprehensive backup discussions, read my two previous entries 1)about the basics of backup; and 2)the more comprehensive backup for your studio.

And if that’s not enough shopping info for you, my friends over at CreativeTechs have put together a shopping cart from Amazon where you can get most, if not all, of these things in one tidy little package. Check it out here.

Lastly, please feel free to continue to post comments to this entry or the original post if you have questions or (even better) if you have answers or more information.

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